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President Barack Obama says the massive stimulus package agreed to by congressional
leaders today isn't all to his liking - and it certainly won't immediately launch Ohio from
recession to prosperity.

But in a White House interview with
The Dispatch and some other regional newspapers, Obama said today that the final
legislation would provide Ohio with significant relief in trying to stave off draconian state
budget cuts and help create jobs to get Ohioans through the worst economy since the Great
Depression.

"Given what Gov. (Ted) Strickland is going through in Ohio ... we need to provide ample relief
to the states," Obama said. "The governors are carrying out their responsibilities. They're making
very tough choices. They've cut about as far as they can. So my hope is that we will see the kind
of number that will give states like Ohio significant relief."

Obama declined to say how much budget assistance he thought would be in the final bill, but he
noted that the bill will help Ohioans in a variety of ways, including more Medicaid funding,
increased unemployment compensation benefits and cheaper health-care premiums for the
unemployed.

"If you look at the overall package, states will be getting significant help across the board,"
Obama said. "We will have allocated money for a couple of years' worth of help, recognizing that in
states like Ohio, you are not going to see the economy pull out of recession overnight."

Obama and his administration have been pushing, campaign-style, for Congress to send him the
stimulus package. His interview with regional reporters; recent trips to Indiana and Florida - both
hard-hit by foreclosures and other economic travails; and events by grass-roots supporters have
been part of that push.

But Obama said there is no hype in his characterization of what the stimulus package will mean
for the economy. Some of the changes in spending and tax cuts that led to the final agreement by
congressional leaders make sense to him and others do not, Obama said.

But "my bottom line has always been, is it creating jobs? And this bill creates jobs," Obama
said. "Is it providing relief to states? It provides relief to states. Is it laying the foundation
for long-term economic growth? It is. No president expects to get 100 percent of what they want,
and I'm no different."

Obama said the bill isn't larded with questionable pet projects.

"One person's frivolous spending is another person's absolutely critical economic-development
tool," Obama said, pledging that his administration will provide rigorous oversight, transparency
and accountability of how the stimulus money is used.

And while it's always possible to pick out a project that might not make sense on its face,
Obama said mayors and governors are approaching stimulus spending with a "great deal of
seriousness."

Obama expressed some concern about the presence of a "Buy American" provision in the
legislation, which would require companies receiving the money for public works to purchase
materials from American sources. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, helped craft the amendment, pledging
that the provision would be consistent with international trade laws.

If that's the case, and it does not trigger a global trade war, Obama said he's comfortable with
the provision. But he said he wants to ensure that "Buy American" doesn't launch a "downward
protectionist spiral that is very dangerous."

Addressing populist concern building over the taxpayer-funded bailout of the financial system, a
program begun under the Bush administration, Obama said it is important to continue it in a revised
form.

"If we don't fix the banks, then we can't get credit to businesses. If we can't get credit to
businesses, they can't hire, and people won't have jobs," Obama said. "So nobody's more invested in
getting this financial system working again than people in communities like Ohio."